Writing Software

October 22, 2007 by Chris
Filed under: Lessons Learned

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Different software programs have helped me stay organized and on track with my writing. There’s the spreadsheet I use to organize my scenes. For this task, I rely on Microsoft Excel. I also used Excel to do time lines on my characters, noting important dates in their lives.
For my writing, I use Word Perfect. I know, it’s not as popular as Word, but having grown up with Word Perfect, I prefer its logic, its set up. Besides, the Reveal Codes feature is priceless in my thinking. Sure, if need be, I’ll export as a Word file, but for the writing part, I prefer WP.

I came across another software through an ad in “Writer’s Digest” magazine called WriteWay Pro. Sure, it’s a word processor like the others, but there are some added features that I really liked. The character profile section has the usual prompts for age, interests, eye color, etc., but also the ability to add an image. I have very particular ideas of what my characters look like. Seeing them alongside their name and history was very powerful for me.

Another nice feature is the storyboard section. You can add screen cards with master templates as your model for Plot, Suspense, Setting, among others. A great way to organize the action of your work. Additional tools provide a word count, word count analysis and tracking. Now you can see for sure if you’ve used that favorite word of yours too much.Some may call it a glorified word processor, but for my part it made the last bit of my writing that much easier.

So as I wind down here with the revision of my work, I’ll muse about the next one and where my detective will find himself next.

Tags: Excel, plot, screen cards, setting, suspense, WordPerfect, write, WriteWayPor, writing software

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